Laura Michell
A northern suburbs pathology lab has processed close to 125,000 COVID-19 tests as part of the state’s efforts to halt the spread of the virus.
Northern Pathology Victoria, which last week marked two years of operation, has processed more than 124,389 tests.
Pathology director, Frank Hong, said the lab, which is based at Northern Hospital, employed extra staff at the height of the pandemic to ensure a quick turnaround for tests.
He said the extra staff had allowed the lab to manage the surge in testing earlier this month, when more than 1100 samples per day were tested.
“When the pandemic started, we had great support from Health Information Services, as well as medical students. After the second wave, we have employed additional staff as part of our long term workforce planning to meet future demand,” Dr Hong said.
“The staff have grown so much as a team, and all 101 staff are working great together. At the moment, we are based in Epping, but looking to expand our services to where ever it’s needed.”
Northern Pathology Victoria operations manager Uttam Punj said he was proud of how the lab had responded to the pandemic.
” I am … proud of our COVID-19 response, and how we were able to keep up with what is expected by the community, as well as the demands of the hospital. I am pleased to say we have outperformed and achieved what was required of us,” he said.
This year, NPV is looking forward to a new, modern Laboratory Automation Track System, expected to go live in late March. The new system will allow the pathology team to expand their capacity, without having to rely on extra resources.
Dr Hong said the project would change the way the lab works and allow it to handle a greater number of samples in the future.
